A Vadodara engineer left his corporate career in 2012 to take travellers beyond hotels and into villages; 14 years later, Chirag Munjani’s rural travel venture runs 70 to 80 trips a year across 16 to 17 destinations

For many, a holiday means checking into a premium hotel, enjoying the views and visiting famous landmarks. Returning home with memories and photographs is the best part of it. But what if a journey could offer something more meaningful, something more to remember by? That’s exactly what Chirag Munjani, an engineer from Vadodara, Gujarat, has been trying to introduce to Indian travellers for over a decade now.Chirag left his corporate career in 2012 to create a venture around rural and experiential tourism. Fourteen years later, his initiative, Rural Pleasure Journeys, organises around 70 to 80 trips annually across 16 to 17 destinations, taking travellers into villages, forests and communities that conventional tourism often overlooks.Meet Chirah MunjaniBorn and based in Vadodara, Munjani studied mechanical engineering at Gujarat University. He then went on pursuing an MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management in Pune, which he completed in 2004.In June 2004 he joined Bajaj Auto as a management trainee. Over the years, he worked with Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Auto Finance. However, his corporate assignments exposed him to a side of India that most conventional travellers rarely encounter.While working in rural markets, Munjani frequently travelled to remote locations and interacted with people and communities outside the usual urban business environment. Talking to The Indian Express, he recalled how his work in rural areas made him realise that there was an opportunity to introduce travellers to destinations through their people, heritage and ecology.In 2012, he set up Rural Pleasure Journeys, a Vadodara-based travel venture focused on rural and experiential tourism. His philosophy was different from conventional sightseeing. Instead of taking visitors from one attraction to another, he wanted them to understand the places they visited.Taking travellers inside the villagesOne of the most interesting aspects of his venture was connecting visitors with local livelihoods. For example, a trip to the Little Rann of Kutch offers travellers an opportunity to understand salt production.Salt is something most households use every day, yet few people know where it comes from or how it is produced. Through these experiences, visitors get an opportunity to understand the hard work and traditional knowledge that go into making an everyday essential.The idea is taking tourism beyond sightseeing and towards conservation. His approach also extends to community participation and environmental conservation.But introducing it in Dang, which is among Gujarat’s poorest districts, was difficult because forest regulations restrict several commercial activities in the region. Initially, convincing tribal communities to welcome outsiders was a challenge.Working for wildlifeThe venture has also developed experiences around wildlife conservation near Gir National Park. Lions sometimes fall into open wells in agricultural areas while chasing prey. As part of conservation-linked activities, visitors can participate in efforts to make protective grills for these wells, including learning about and taking part in fabrication work.From one idea to 80 trips a yearOver the years, the geographical footprint also expanded. While it initially focused on Gujarat, it entered Madhya Pradesh in 2023 and Rajasthan in 2024.Today, they offer both fixed and customised itineraries across 16 to 17 destinations and organise approximately 70 to 80 trips every year, with local communities involved at each destination.For Munjani, the idea of travel has always been about creating connections that go beyond photographs and sightseeing. For him, a visit to a village can introduce someone to an artisan’s lifelong craft. A journey through a salt-producing region can make an everyday ingredient feel entirely different. And an experience around Gir can help visitors understand why protecting wildlife also means supporting the communities living alongside it.Fourteen years after taking that leap, his venture is helping travellers discover an India that often remains outside conventional itineraries. And it matters.